Cold War: Competition and Coexistence, 1950-1962

The Arms Race (Pages 40-44)

(Alexz Craddock, Jake Hodges, Jesse Kirlin, Isaac Ordoway, Alex Terry, Diem-Anh Vo)

Pages 42-44 Jesse Kirlin

  • Soviet ICBM's made it possible for the USSR to threaten the United States directly
  • There were no known ways of defending against ICBM's
  • Sputnik made people believe that the USSR was taking the lead in the arms race
  • Thanks to U-2 spy planes, Eisenhower knew that the threat was not as serious as initially feared
  • U-2 planes also made it known that the Soviets were having serious problems with their ICBM's
  • US was said to be vulnerable to a surprise attack
  • Kennedy convinced Congress to increase military spending
  • Military spending increased by 15% between 1960 and 1962
  • Spending on the space program increased from $400 million in 1960 to $5 billion in 1965
  • In 1961, Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara said there was no "missile gap"
  • Kennedy's build-up included the deployment of thousands of nuclear missiles in Europe
  • Khrushchev focused on the economy rather than military spending
  • Khrushchev cut troops to 2.4 million in 1960
  • In October 1961, USSR detonates a 50-megaton hydrogen bomb

Page 49 (Alexander Hoare)
~Viet Minh wanted to consolidate control of the north.
~The Viet Minh protested against Diem’s choice to not participate in elections
~Diem reversed Viet Minh land reforms which revived the armed resistance against him.
~1960 Viet Minh members in the south organized a national liberation front.
~They wanted to overthrow Diem and reunify the nation
~In Laos, royalist government took control in 1954
~Formed a communist, neutralist government in 1957
~1958 rightist forces overthrow the leftist government in Laos
~1960 August- neutralists and communists regained control
~1960 December-Rightist forces overthrow the communists and neutralists again.

~The Suez Crisis accelerated the end of European colonial dominance.
~This showed the vulnerability of these European powers.
~1956 Morocco and Tunisia gain independence
~1957 Ghana gained independence
~Algeria gained independence in 1962
~By 1962 most of Africa had gained independence.
~Decolonization of Africa was influenced by the international conflicts between the USSR and the USA
~Congo independence in 1960
~Soviets gave aid through the UN to the Congo but the USA refused due to suspicion of communist sympathies.
~The USA gave covert anticommunist assistance until the Congo was secure against communist influences.

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